Prince Harry Sells His Rifles and Gives Up Hunting to Please Meghan Markle

Prince Harry has sold his handmade hunting rifles to another game hunter for £50,000, or slightly over $60,000, the newspaper The Sun reported. He did it out of deference to wife Meghan Markle, who is a conservationist and animal-lover, sources say. Harry has not hunted since he went on a wild boar hunting trip to Germany when they two were engaged in 2017.

Harry first learned to shoot as a child and once killed a one-ton buffalo, and posed for a photograph with his trophy kill. But in the years since, he has gone off the "sport" and become more enlightened, sources told the paper that he gave up hunting to please Meghan, who is opposed to hunting.

Markle has never said she was vegan but when discussed her diet in the past, it was in the context of trying to eat less meat. She is "mostly plant-based," she told a reporter years ago, and that, before she had Archie, reports in England stated that she was hoping to raise her son as vegetarian. In a 2016 interview with Best Health, Markle said, “I try to eat vegan during the week and then have a little bit more flexibility with what I dig into on the weekends. But at the same time, it’s all about balance.”

The British press reported last summer that Harry was said to be opting for "less meat and more fruit and veg," at the same time Markle reportedly said she would raise Archie that way.

Getty Images

The recent report about Harry selling his weapons said the sale took place about five months ago, when he privately unloaded two British-made guns — months before he and Meghan, 38, moved to Canada and then settled in LA.

A friend of the anonymous gun buyer said: “He bought them because he wanted them, not because they belonged to Harry, but he was quite chuffed when he found out.

"They are beautiful examples and he’s very pleased with them but he’s not the sort of person who wants to boast about the royal connection," the source added.

Conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall said she was not surprised to hear that Harry had decided to quit hunting. A friend of Meghan Markle's, the 86-year-old animal activist told the Radio Times she accepted Harry and his brother William were champions of the natural world, the paper reports. Over Christmas, Kate Middleton waited for Markle to depart and joined the annual pheasant hunt.

In August, it was reported that Meghan may “fake a headache” to avoid a hunt at the Queen’s annual holiday to Balmoral.

The conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, a friend of Markle’s, recently told the Radio Times that Harry would quit shooting animals for sport because Meghan doesn't like it.

“I think Harry will stop because Meghan doesn’t like hunting,” she said then. Sage move.